Improved construction and defense of war-vessels



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN A. STEVENS, OF HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

FMPROVED CONSTRUCTION AND DEFENSE OF WAR-VESSELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,411, dated January 13, 1863.

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, EDWIN A. STEVENS, of Hoboken, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Constructing Vessels of War 5 and I hereby declare the following to be a full and eXact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making' part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section of a vessel embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a vertical crosssection of the same at the line A B, Fig. 1.

The first part ot' my invention consists in protecting what I call the vital parts of War-y vessels from-shot and shell by lowering the vessel in the water, so that a water-protected deck shall be lower than the external water. For instance, the submerged portion of the hull, excepting the sides, bulk-heads, and parts which connect it to the upper portion of the vessel, and the openings for communication between the upper and lower parts, may be completely enveloped with water by placing a stratum ot' water on a deck situated below the water-line. Being thus surrounded, this part of the vessel will beprotected from shot and shell by virtue ot' the nonelasticity of water -a quality which causes cannon-shot red at it at an acute angle to ricochet instead of entering, and which takes away the dangerous velocity of shot tired at any angle.

IVhat I mean by vital parts of a vessel are, iirst, space enough inside of a vessel to se cure her flotation; second, the parts where the engines and boilers are situated, and where, according to my plan, the men and machinery to work the guns are situated. If these are protected, the upper parts necessaryto make the vessel convenient in other respect, may be injured'or partially destroyed in action without disabling the vessel in her locomotive or iighting qualities.

rIhe parts of an ordinary vessel below the water-line, excepting' the streak very near the waterline, are already well protected against shot by the water in which the vessel ioats 5 but the parts above the water-line not being so protected, modern warfare has led to the use of heavy iron casemates constituting the upper portions ol' the vessel, in order to prevent their destruction by shot and shell. My in vention is a means of protecting the aforesaid vital parts without the use of such casemates, and for this purpose I place a stratum of water thick enough to constitute a sufficient protection against projectiles over such vital parts as I intend to protect, and either at or below the water-line. The water may he held in various ways. It may be simply run upon a deck or between two decks, or into separate tanks, or it may be placed in boxes, bags, cells, or other vessels laid upon a deck. What I prefer is a heavy water-tight iron deck divided into compartments by both cross and longitudinal bulk-heads, so that the breaking open of one would not remove the water from the remainder, the water to be about two feet deep, and the whole to be covered with a light deck to prevent the water from washing over the sides of the bulk-heads, and to make a place for the crew to stand and operate when necessary. rIhe compartments would be connected together, and one of them connected to a steam-pump, which could both empty and lill the hole, or each compartment might be separately connected to the pump. Hatches through the deck would be placed in proper positions to ventilate the vessel and to give places of entrance to the interior. These hatches, as well as the chimney ot' the boiler and all necessary entrances, would be provided with shot-proof combings of sufficient height to keep both shot and water from entering the vital parts of the vessel.

To prevent the bursting or injury of any of the water tanks, vessels, or compartments referred to in this specification by the entrance of projectiles, I propose to place air-vessels, made of gum or very thin metal or bladders, in these tanks or vessels, either attached to the sides or any part of them or fastened tov the bottom or sides by strings or wire, so as to retain their position, or left to tloat when the tanks or vessels are filled or the sides or top or bottom or all parts of the tanks or vessels may be lined with some elastic material in such manner as to leave an air-space between said lining and said sides, top, or bottom. rIhe purposeis, water being non-elastic, to prevent the bursting or injury of the water tanks or vessels by introducing within them air-vessels which will compress on the entrance of the projectile, and thus make room for the ball; or I place, when preferred, asa substitute for this stratum of water, a horizontal bulk-head or deck composed of or covered with metallic armor. Although this armor, unlike the sides of the casemate before referred to, maybe comparatively thin. as it has only to glance horizontal or inclined shot and .to resist shells, yet Ilprefer a stratum of water, chiefly because, however great the amount'of water required to make an adequate protection, it may all be thrown over` board when the vessel is not in action, thus reducing weight and increasing` speed with; a given power. In V,some eases I employ both, the' stratum of water and the metallic armor asan additional protection. Forconvenienee, Ic'all this horizontal protection'ineithfer ofthe w'a ysabove described a protected deck. This protected deck should belowth'e Yvvrter-line when the vessel is inaction, in order tof'com-- plete the inc'losureofythe vital `parts of the vessel 5 Vbut when 'out of action itisbetter to have it above the waterline,fand the water protection removed for the sake of lightness, height out ofl water, and various obviousfreasons. Therefore# place th'e'prteoteddeck above the sailing 'water-line ofthe vessel,and t havingse'ttled the vessel upon going intoa'ction seas to bring'the protected deck below the fighting Water-libel raise it again when going ont yof action. by which'meansthe uniniured deck and sides that were protected when in action are raised abovewater far enough 'to adapttheY vessel to "sailing and other uses. IA settle the vessel tothe frghting-dra-ft by letting waterthrough holes regulated by valves,"or

bypunping water from vthe outside 'of the vesselinto compartments o'rtak's arranged for that purpose :in the vessel oron any of her decks, o1" in all these places. y The before-nientioned'st'ratum of water used 'for protection -may falso be employed for ftliiswpu'ipose., I raise th'e=ve`ssel again to her sai ing-draft'by pum pinggo'ut th e water in these compartments, tanks, or vessels. I prefer.` stea'mlpumps for thispu'rpose. The compartments lshold "be so placed that by letting moreor less 'water into-either'of themthe vessel can be put4v on an even kcel'lon'gitudinally onathwartsghip'or bythe head or by the sternfas may bereL quired. I j

I amlavare that vessels have been settled in the'wat'er beforel for the purpose vof trimming them and 'forthe purpose of "rendering them less visible 'toan' eneinyat a distance; but I am not aware Vthat anyvels's'el hasfe'ver been settledfin the-water for the purpsebf protecting yit againstsh'ot, or that itt-'has' ever been settled ifn'fthe waterfeither upto or below a deck protected by waterv orothe'rw'ise .against shot, orI that prior to my invention lany vessel ever had a 'deck p'rotected'by-waterfcr jiron a'gainstjshot, in combination with sides pro'- tected by 'water against shot'to 'a line above such deck, or that any plan or means has ever been suggested or known by which such can be done.

To give the vessel a greater degree of stability and buoyancy than it would have when settled, as described,into the water, and when greatly damaged above the protected deck, I secure tothe upper portion of the vessel what I call a buoyant structure;7 insuch manner that the upper,A part of this structure'may project out of Water when the vessel is settled into the water.

I prefer to place this buoyant structure inthe position either of an ordina-ry guard or an ordinary bulwark. This buoyant structure may bemade either of solid timber or of air cells or chambers of metal, rubber, or other material. If made of vwhite cedar or similar wood not subject to splinter, or'of cork, this buoyant structure might be riddled with s hot without losing anymore of its buoyancy than'that due to the small loss of material occasioned by' the passage ot' thefball, If made of 'air-cells, it is probable that only a small portion of them wouldbe pierced in action, while the buoyancy of the rest would'not be affected, y Y y.

In afddition'to the advantage of certainly protecting the vessel' against shot'and shells by water, in the manner described, this construction enables me to `place the cannon above the upper deck-a situation in which they would possess the hereinafter-men tion ed advantages ov'er cannon placed within the sidesof a vessel. Armorof sueient thickness to certainly resist the heaviest projectiles, vand'of sufficient extent tocoverthe guns and the `g"unn'ers,'is necessarily of extreme weight,

thus rendering its use lirnp'ra'eti,cable for small vessels of light draft. lThe height and extent of' such armor 'would also form a much larger nia-rkfor the enemy than ythe projecting guns of 'my arrangement. Sucharm'or would also require to beipierc'ed with numerous and large jportholes`,wh`ich"would not 'v only weaken it, but'- wou-iu 4"give the 'enemy at ytlie'stmt this 'number' ofopenings to throw in grape, "shells, and'rie'fshot. Gannon vthus placed within the sides of avessel'wouldfh'a-ve but a limited range, that "on' the "starboard side, for instance, being sjlessyinngnting theport side of the vessel, x'asfeach tier 'of guns could 'onlyjre on its own side, instead of 'round the' circle, thus requiri'ngdo'uble the n'uniberof guns lof 'a given 'caliber tov th row thcsame weight "of projectiles thatv would bey required in a vessel upon which all the guns'eould rein'any direction. I proposet'o place thec'annon at the usual distance,

with 'reference to thel purpose 'forwhich they are usedabove the upper deck', 'on pivots or turni-tablemfsoas to 'be pointed, -with@ certain limitations,hereinafter described, all round the circlefajnd be brought to" bear at thesaine time on any object inl anyfdirection.

The pivots or 'other machinery for turning the gun-s maybe operated in various ways be'- lowr deck andbel'ow the level of the water, so that the men and the machinery employed in operating them ywill be protected 5 or they can be worked abofe deck, if deemed expedient. The guns may also be loaded, aimed, and tired by men and machinery situated below the deck, and thus protected from the re of the enemy. It is probable that guns of fty thousand pounds weight (which is about the weight of iifteen-inch guns) would not be readily broken by cannon shot without protection; but, in addition to this, the guns would be covered with wrought-iron bands, which would serve the double purpose of strengthening them and protecting them from injury by the enemys shot. By means of placing an elastic resisting substance, either behind and before the trunnions ofthe gun or between the carriage and the pintle by which it is turned, or between the parts that recoil and some iixed part of the vessel, the exposed supports or carriages of the guns may be composed of masses of iron too strong and heavy to be broken by shot, and so shaped that projectiles will glance off from them without doing any serious injury. The guns could all be fired nearly parallel to the keel, as they would only need to clear each other, there being nothing else in the way. In this case their recoil would, therefore, not tend to careen the vessel and keep her rolling, as in case of broadside-iiring; but the guns would be nearly as stable, and therefore could be aimed with nearly as much precision as if they were onshore. In case of the buistin g of agun, its position above deck and above the gunners would expose no one to ha-rm, and avoid the confusion incident to an explosion. The position of the gun above deck would also prevent the dangerous effects upon the hearing of the' gunners that large guns tired below or between decks would be likely to produce. It would also prevent the suifocating effect f sulphurous smoke below deck, and thus enable more rapid firing and more expeditious, cool, and effective operation than would be possible with guns tired within a closed shotproof covering or tower. As no one is necessarily on deck, the smoke from the boiler-furnaces, passing close to the deck, would not interfere with working the ship or guns,so that the part of the chimney above the level ofthe guns could be dispensed with, the draft being maintained by using the exhauststeam in the part of the chimney below the level ofthe guns, or by blowers arranged according to my patent of April l, 1842, which prevents the escape of deleterious gases into the fire-room. This would give an opportunity for all the guns to bear on any object in almost any direction. I propose to arrange the guns so that when deemed expedient the gunners can set any or all ofthe guns to stand at the angle indicated by a graduated index-plate. The man at the wheel can then cause the guns to bear upon any object by changing the course of the vessel by the helm, when under headway, and in case of a double propellingpowersuch as two screws-by changing her position without making headway.

The methods hereinbefore referred to for protecting, working, loading, and stopping the recoil of guns, and setting or pointing them by graduated index-plates, I have made the subjects of separate applications for Letters Patent.

In order that my invention may be more fully understood, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings.

K and K are chambers or tanks into which water is introduced in order to lower the vessel in the water.

M and M are steam -pumps employed to fdl or empty the chambers K and K when it is desired thus to lower the vessel or again raise her to her sailing-draft. It preferred, the water may be allowed to flow in by valves, as at Z, or a similar means may be employed to permit the water to tlow out if any chamber is above the water-line.

J J are screw-propellers driven by the shafts lc lo and the engines L L.

R is a boiler for supplying steam to the engines L and L and to the steam-pumps M and M. Y

F represents what I call the protected deck,77 of sufficient strength to sustain in the space above it the body of water placed upon it, which will consitute a resisting medium to protect the interior of the ship from shot and shell.` The said water-space is divided into a number of compartments by means of partitions G, which may run in any direction, for the purpose hereinbefore explained.

Y is an air-vessel occupying a part of a water-compartment to preserve the sides or bulk-heads from injurious concussions by the displacement of the water in the event of a shot entering the water-space; or F may represent a deck protected, as hereinbeforc explained, byanetallic armor and either covered or not covered by water.

E is a deck placed over the water situated on the protected deck F.

H is a cellular metallic structure surrounding the upper part of the hull. The purpose of this structure is to impart stability and buoyancy to the vessel when submerged for action. Instead of being made cellular, it it may, if preferred, be constructed of buoyant material, as at H', as has been hereinbefore more fully set forth.

I is a gun mounted on a carriage, U, which may be revolved by the pintle V by men or machinery below the water-line, and which may be loaded through the hole X from below the water-line.

I I are hatches for ventilation and for ingress and egress.

S is the smoke-funnel.

O (l may be the Iighting water-line, and D D the sailing-line.

Other parts of the vessel not herein referred to'may be of any suitable construction, and do not require a specic'description.

Havingvdescribed a way in which the invention may be carried into effect, what I claim` therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Lowering a War-vessel in the water so that a water-protected deck shall be lower than the surface of the water outside, substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

2. The buoyant structure, substantially as described, applied to a partially or wholly Asubmerged war-vessel, to im partstability and buoyancy thereto.

' A. STEVENS.

Witnesses OCTAVIUS KNIGHT, J AMES HGEIDLEY. 

